Publikationen

The paper studies verbal maritime communication by categorising spontaneous professional discourse observed in co-operative full-mission simulation exercises into the illocutionary points of commissives and directives according to Searle's original classification. The research adopts a Corpus Pragmatics approach by combining vertical Corpus Linguistics methods with horizontal Pragmatics analyses. Between-group analyses of speech acts by native and non-native speakers of English are carried out and possible risks of miscommunication classified and compared. On the basis of the circular Osgood-Schramm communication model the sender–receiver interaction is investigated for either speaker group. Findings include both quantitative and qualitative between-group differences in locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary speech acts. These differences are evaluated as causal factors in effective communicative acts and as contributory factors for miscommunication in the maritime domain.

This paper compares ESP communication by non-native speakers of Maritime English with communication outside a nautical setting in order to profile its structural idiosyncrasy. Vocabulary growth, word frequencies, lexical and key word densities, and grammar diversity as dependent linguistic variables observed in transcribed full-mission simulation exercises are contrasted to the Brown Corpus, the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English and the Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP). Using quantitative linguistics, inherent structural patterns of nautical team communication are identified and similarities and variations highlighted. Significant differences found in all linguistic features are gauged by means of the Probability of Superiority (PS) effect size. A linguistic profile is created which quantifies the observed language patterns and provides a quantitative model for the linguistic genre of this particular discourse community. The model fills the gap of quantitative research on empirical bridge team communication samples and delivers a valid tool for estimating the magnitude of observed linguistic effects.

The paper focuses on the maritime project entitled “VTS-Bot” which aims to exploit the innovative use of computer dialogue systems (aka ChatBots) to assist future Officers of the Watch (OOW) in acquiring maritime communication skills based on the IMO (International Maritime Organization) SMCP (Standard Marine Communication Phrases). As part of their training, deck and engineering cadets in the Merchant Marine are required to obtain a mandatory range of communication competencies in line with the IMO STCW code (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, chapter II, table A-II/1). The VTS-Bot developed within the project is freely available online and allows students to practise the relevant maritime communication at their own individual learning pace, thus establishing a student-centred educative approach. The exercises contained in the ChatBot target the compulsory Part A of the IMO SMCP used in VHF communication, and provide authentic maritime scenarios wherein the cadet conducts in real time a simulated maritime conversation with the ChatBot.

The paper introduces a method to quantify grammar diversity based on part-of-speech tagging (POS) and presents a POS diversity index which can be used for analysing written and spoken communication independently of a text’s length. For this purpose, a series of transcripts of the radio programme Lingua Franca, broadcast by the Australian Broadcast Corporation, are assessed. The radio presenter’s grammatical footprint is compared with the POS index values of the invited guests, and the hypothesis that a significant difference in the grammar structures used by the different speakers is tested for validity using a standard ANOVA calculation. Significantly different POS diversity is found in a comparison between groups of speakers. The index provides for comparative studies of grammar structures used by individual speakers or authors.

The paper presents a method for measuring the information flow in bridge team communication based on an analysis of the voyage data recorder transcript of MV Cosco Busan alliding with a bridge pillar in San Francisco Bay in dense fog. The aim is to assess the efficiency of maritime communication by developing a specific index suitable for evaluating individual and team communication performance. The allision investigated in this paper leads to the conclusion that the information flow in bridge team communication can be measured quantitatively and that a correlation to external situational factors can be demonstrated.